The twelfth Le Mans triumph, the early win of the manufacturers’ title* in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), plus five victories and five best times in qualifying at the first six events: Audi presents itself in top form in the WEC. The seventh round of the season at Shanghai (China) on November 9 may even produce the decision in the drivers’ World Championship.

Since the race at Fuji (Japan), it has been clear that the World Endurance Champions are again driving an Audi this year. Loïc Duval/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish (F/DK/GB) in the Audi R18 e-tron quattro will have the chance to secure the World Champion’s title in China even before the finale. Their only remaining opponents are their team-mates Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer (CH/D/F). 40.75 points separate the two Audi driver teams. 52 points are yet to be awarded.

Three factors make the seventh round of the WEC a big challenge for Audi. At the premiere at Shanghai a year ago, Audi saw that the cornering radii of the modern Grand Prix circuit have a particularly disadvantageous effect on the R18 e-tron quattro. In six of the narrow turns, the hybrid race car is slower than 120 km/h. But only above this speed, the e-tron quattro hybrid system is allowed to use the recovered energy for acceleration again – as prescribed by the regulations.

The second factor: The event was shortened to two days. Only 33 hours pass between the first practice session and the checkered flag. This challenges the engineers and the drivers to work with particularly high concentration on the set-up and preparation for the race.

A third factor adds further spice to the battle for the podium positions. As most recently at Fuji, challenger and last year’s winner Toyota, like Audi, is fielding two cars.

Therefore Audi and its many racing fans are thus in for a challenging ‘home round.’ China has long become a second home to the brand with the four rings. The country is the largest single market and a strong growth engine for the company. In the first three quarters of the current year, sales in China increased by 20.6 percent to 358,213 automobiles. Furthermore, the brand is celebrating an anniversary this year, as its success story in China started exactly 25 years ago on the signing of a licensing agreement between Audi and First Automotive Works (FAW). Today, a joint venture in Changchun manufactures Audi models and another plant will be launched in Foshan at the end of 2013. The topic of hybrid technology that has been embodied in motorsport by the R18 e-tron quattro since 2012 is gaining momentum in China as well. In July, Audi and FAW announced the planned launch of a joint plug-in-hybrid project specifically for the Chinese market.

Fans can watch the race in China on the internet. Audi is broadcasting the action by live streaming on www.audi-motorsport.com. Additional background information is made available on the Audi Sport App, Twitter and Facebook.

* Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA.

Topics of the weekend

-Can Audi win the WEC round in China for the first time?-Will Loïc Duval/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish secure the title in China or will Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer postpone the decision to the finale in Bahrain?-How close will the duel for victory be between the two hybrid competitors?

Quotes by the officials

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “We’d like to deliver a good sporting performance in Audi’s largest single market. We’re going to leave no stone unturned to clinch our sixth WEC win of the season and our first success on the Shanghai circuit with the R18 e-tron quattro. We’re facing a challenging race. At the same time, we’re in for the next World Championship decision. Loïc Duval, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish have the chance to succeed Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer as World Champions at the seventh round of the season. I think this will provide the crowd with a real treat.”

Chris Reinke (Head of LMP): “Looking at the sales figures, Shanghai is our home race. This is another reason why it’s a very important race in which we’ve got to settle some unfinished business. We didn’t win last year, so we’re particularly motivated now. The track characteristics pose a great challenge because, due to the regulations, we can’t use our hybrid system in the narrow turns.”

Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Team Joest): “At Shanghai, a year ago, it wasn’t so easy to perfectly set up our car. The track is known as very demanding. Toyota won the race last year; this year, we want to be in front. We’re traveling to Shanghai with the data gathered last year and have got two improved race cars on the grid. This season, we’ve consistently been very competitive. That’s why there can only be one aim in China, too: victory.”

Facts and quotes by the Audi drivers

Marcel Fässler (37/CH), Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest)-Is traveling to China with his team-mates as last year’s World Champions “Shanghai is a very special track with good overtaking opportunities. I really like the track layout. The first long turn immediately requires great skill because we can’t see the apex. Last year, the race wasn’t so easy for us but I’m convinced that this year we can be optimistic thanks to the very good preparation.”

André Lotterer (31/D), Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest)-Together with Benoît Tréluyer set the fastest time in qualifying most recently in Japan“Shanghai is a typical, modern Grand Prix track. To be honest, my heart doesn’t really belong to such circuits with their very special turns. But that’s neither here nor there – we’re aiming to achieve the best for Audi. Last year, we weren’t able to make really good use of the tires. I’m optimistic because this year we’ve clearly made some progress that’ll again show in China.”

Benoît Tréluyer (36/F), Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest)-With his team-mates has won the WEC rounds at Spa and São Paulo plus the Sebring 12 Hours this year“I think Shanghai will be the most difficult race of the year. We’ve clearly seen that our engineers managed to make a big step with the car. But the track with its corners does not suit our car at all. Unfortunately, we’re not allowed to use our hybrid energy as freely as our competitor. Winning in China won’t be easy.”

Loïc Duval (31/F), Audi R18 e-tron quattro #2 (Audi Sport Team Joest)-After São Paulo and Austin, at Shanghai, gets to run on a third track previously unknown to him “I’ll get to know another new track and country. We realize how important China is as an automobile market for Audi. Naturally, we’d like to be in contention for victory. That’s important for Audi and for us, the three drivers of car number ‘2.’”

Tom Kristensen (46/DK), Audi R18 e-tron quattro #2 (Audi Sport Team Joest)-Together with Allan McNish was the best Audi driver team at Shanghai last year“For us, the race in China is a nice task. We’d like to clinch the first WEC victory of the brand in the largest market. And we all know that the race will be about a possible early decision in the drivers’ World Championship after Audi has already won the title in the manufacturers’ classification.”

Allan McNish (43/GB), Audi R18 e-tron quattro #2 (Audi Sport Team Joest)-Together with his team-mates is leading the WEC standings-Qualified in the best R18 e-tron quattro for the front row at Shanghai a year ago“In the battle with Toyota, we’ve been more competitive this year than in the past season, especially on the tracks with tighter turns like the one in Brazil. Shanghai has such characteristics as well. I’m expecting a very close battle between the two manufacturers. Now, in the second year of the R18 e-tron quattro, we’ve got a very good feel for our car but the race won’t be easy.”

“In China, we’re competing in a market that’s particularly important for Audi. The turns at Shanghai differ quite a bit from each other. Two bends drastically change their radii – the first turn becomes increasingly tight while the snail shell corner in front of the long straight in the third section of the circuit widens. We’ve got to downshift all the way into first gear several times on each lap. By contrast, the second part of the track has very fluid sequences with corners we take at speeds above 200 km/h. And last but not least, there are two long straights which are part of this young GP circuit. At the end of these straights, we downshift from sixth into the lowest gear. Obviously, all this requires a lot of compromises in the set-up. Due to its changing rhythm this track is a great challenge for us drivers.”

Further information about the official fuel consumption figures and official, specific CO2 emissions of new passenger cars can be found in the “Guide to fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and electricity consumption of new cars,” which is available free of charge from all sales outlets and from DAT (Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH), Hellmuth-Hirth-Strasse 1, 73760 Ostfildern-Scharnhausen, Germany (http://www.dat.de).